Blue fox
by Nabuula
Summary: In the warring State Period, two Clans rise and overpowered everyone else. But being the strongest does not mean being invincible or the best in anything. As a mysterious illness plagues the Uchiha and their medical forces don't suffice anymore, the clan leader is forced, to "get some help" from another clan. Now Inaris life has changed forever, will she survive with the Uchiha?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello my dear readers and welcome to this fanfiction.  
**

**I hope that you'll enjoy reading, but beware, there is a high possibilty of finding grammar or spelling mistakes, **

**because English is not my motherlanguage. Therefore, I would really appreciate it, **

**to tell me where I made mistakes, when you find them.  
**

**And now, enjoy the first chapter of blue fox!**

It was peaceful. The sunrays, which shone through the foliage of trees and warmed her skin in a pleasant way, the rustling of leaves and twigs, which were weighed smoothly in the wind, the singing of the birds, the smoothly rippling water of a nearby fountain. The whole life, which surrounded her in the forests of the land of fire had a relaxing effect on her and calmed her. When she sat at a a place like this one, then all her thoughts and feelings could be released, her soul could rest a bit, her spirit freed from all the chains and burdens. Here, at the Jiyu-fountain she always had the feeling of being free like the wind itself, being able to wander every place she wanted to visit without overcoming any obstacles and leaving all her troubles at a place far away.

Here she could think about her clan. She often compared it with other clans, always finding the huge differences between them and then asking herself, if they really could be called Clan with Shinobis. When people talked about the Kazobi-Clan, then they often told each other tails of their healing-ability, how long each of them lived an their massive amount of Chakra. That sounded very intimidating and many first thought that those were really strong warriors, but they all would be proven wrong.

They never fought anyone directly, they were sneaky, always being hired for attacking without anyone noticing, never showing themselves, because if they would, the would fall and die. But the rarely attacked anyone, for most of the time they were occupied with healing the wounded after a battle someone else had fought. Always healing the wounded army of a country, curing diseases others suffered from.

Sometimes you saw a few of them fighting, trying to survive a battle, because they had no talent for saving lives, but almost each of the fell in no time or were so badly wounded that they would never be useful again in their lifetime. There were others involved in the fights, but the weren't warriors, they were field medics and only those were able to come back alive from combats.

Her clan would never be able to win a war on their own, they weren't a great and mighty power everyone should be afraid of. They could only be feared as a support in war.

War...what was it good for anyway? Many people died, landscapes destroyed, soaked in blood of many brave men and women. Husbands didn't return to their wife and children, the sister died before the eyes of the brother, death was always present, the destruction of a future everywhere present. Many times she had seen it, yet at the same time, she had never witnessed it. She and the others had been like ghosts wandering the battlefield, trying desperately to save the lives of fallen soldiers and warriors, saving them from death. Sometimes she would be seen, then she would be attacked, because she was hope for the enemy. The enemy, who could murder their friends, families and loved ones. These times washed the surface of the earth clean from any good-willed and fragile soul living on it. With softness, mercy, blind trust and understanding you easily died during war, although those things were much appreciated in times of peace. War kills soft hearts or worse, turns them into stones.

But then, why did humans seek war? Because some of them had fun? Because they wanted to who would be the stronger one? Because of the fight? Because of their hurt pride? Because someone wanted to show their strength and might? Because they wanted to protect their loved ones? Because their souls sought for revenge? Because there was no other option but death? Almost everything seemed to be understandable, but then, how could you achieve peace? Destroying every enemy permanently? That would be almost impossible, because nature always found a way to let something survive, other ones would rise and fight you again. Be it for revenge, out of fear, or other reasons. Then, should everyone forget their hatred and make a truce with their enemy? That was easily said, but hard to accomplish, maybe even impossible. But there were no other ways, were it?

She should not propose conclusions, because she lived through the real pain and horror of war. Of course, she also had lost some people, but never a loves one, never had she truly lost her family and her best friends were still alive. And even if she would lose a loved one, the responsible ones could be the one she could be fighting with in the next war between two lands. Every Shinobi she was healing now could be her next enemy, so as a child she was taught to distance themselves from their patients for exact the same reason. She was told to heal everyone who fought on her side, regardless if they once had been enemies or if they could be enemies in the near future. The system was more than illogical and sometimes hard to follow, but who was she to protest against it.

Hate, the desire for revenge and greed would let the battles and combats live on and she, a person who was spared from these destructive feelings so far, could not judge those who fell for those emotions and therefore couldn't stop war.

Time passed as she sat there, thinking about peace and war and letting her thoughts flow freely like wind itself. But then, she detected chakra moving in her direction, approaching her fast. Yet, she was calm and didn't prepare for a fight like normally. Actually, you could never be cautious enough, the Shimura-Clan was dangerously close to her Clan's territory and being alone in a forest was never save, but she still saw no reason to get suspicious, because she recognized the chakra instantly. She could not determine the person itself, but she could easily tell that it was one of her peoples' chakra.

Before she saw him, she heard his quiet footsteps, which you could only listen to when you were trained as a ninja. Normal ears would only hear the the water, the bird and the rustling twigs and leaves, but a ninja would also be able to hear steps as loud as one of an elephant. He had almost reached her, when she decided to stand up and brush off the dust from her dark green pants. She looked into the direction from which he would come from and waited. Only a few seconds passed, before she could see a boy, around 16 years old, jumping from tree to tree until he spotted her and landed on the ground a couple of feet away. His short and messy hair was night-blue and his eyes green like grass. He wore a light blue Kimono- shirt, which was attached to his body with an dark green obi, white bandages were wrapped around his forearms, black trousers covered his legs and sandals secured his feet.

"Jinsoku, why are you in such a hurry?"

The question was rather sarcastic, considering the personality of this boy. He didn't know the meaning of the word "break", he was always in motion, he could not stay on a spot longer than ten seconds. He always needed a task and wanted to finish it as quick as possible, so he could go on with the next one.

He hurried over to her while beginning to talk:

"Inari-san, at last I have found you. We have to return to our village, the elders and Sofuto have convoked a clan-meeting. Your father told me to inform and to take you back home. Are you coming, or do you want to stay there forever? Let's go!"

He had talked so fast, Inari barley understood anything of what he just had said. This boy was so impatient, you could never answer fast enough, your reaction was always way too slow for him. Observing him, she assumed that he began his search in the moment her father had told him so, because he wasn't wearing any armour and didn't have any weapons with him.

"You should be more cautious, when you step into the forest, if someone attacked you, you would be an easy target."

"What?! We have no time to discuss this now, Inari-san, and you also don't wear anything that could protect you. Come on, otherwise we will be late for the meeting!"

The young woman rolled her eyes, a small smile covered her lips, before she jumped onto the next tree branch back to Kazobi- compound. Jinsoku appeared almost immediately next to her and although they were moving pretty fast, they boy looked like he wanted to go faster. Still smiling, Inari thought that this boy was a bundle of pure energy, she couldn't imagine him treating a patient and was always amazed, how calm he could become when he healed somebody.

Both of them moved without making any noise, until the young woman began talking:

"Say, Jinsoku, do you know why they convoked a meeting? Our last lays only three days behind."

It always was a bad sign when a meeting was announced in such a short time, the fact, that since the last one there didn't even lay a week behind only increased her concern. Something must have happened, but what?

"I am not quite sure, but I saw a falcon arrive today. Half an hour later the meeting was announced, which should begin an hour later. We only got fifteen minutes left, so don't be so slow. Hurry up!"

Holding up this speed, they would arrive at the gates in less than three minutes, but she didn't want to provoke the boy, so she jumped faster. You could never come too early to a Clan-meeting. While returning home, she thought about the current situation. So there had been a falcon, which meant, that it couldn't be a feudal lord, emperor or king asking for their medical skills, they always sent messengers. Maybe a threat from another Clan? A declaration of war, a proposal for a truce, a information about a now dead clan? Each of these possibilities could be the reason or none of them.

She could only be certain when she heard the solution from the clan leader's mouth.

The first houses came into view, hidden between all those trees and partly surrounded by a huge marshland. The two Shinobis had to run the rest of the way to get to the biggest house from all. The guards, who were positioned there to check the village's surroundings for any enemies, let both of them pass without any suspicions. They wouldn't participate in the meeting, which meant, they were little or not affected by the incident at all. Their compound couldn't be left unguarded at any time. They would be informed afterwards.

The usually small, but vivid roads between the houses were deserted, no children could be heard playing or training, there was no chatter between two herbalist to listen to and the only thing that cut through the silence were their footsteps. To be honest, the whole place looked like no single life could be found here ever, but both of them new better and weren't bothered by the uncommon silence. All children, who too young to participate in a meeting would be gathered in one house with one mother as a supervisor, all the other people should be present at the meeting room behind the shrine, there wasn't much time left before it would begin. The further they went to the shrine, the more people could be seen, everyone going in the same direction with concerned faces. They also knew that nothing good could occur if there just had been a meeting three days ago.

But when they saw people here, then they could not be too late. Officially it would begin in ten minutes or less, but an unspoken rule said that everyone should arrive earlier. The ones who came on time were the ones way too late. As a child, Inari had always been confused when her parents had explained it to her, and even now, as a young adult she couldn't really understand why it was so important not to arrive on time, but earlier, she just accepted it as a fact and never thought about it again. She just wanted to be there as soon as possible, because her parents would be furious if she brought shame upon their family by arriving on time and therefore too late.

Before the shrine, Inari removed a nightblue strand of her hair from her sight, set her clothing in the right place, so she would make an proper appearance and then walked into the building with her head held high, across the room and through the hidden door into the secret meeting place. Many of her people already sat there on their place in silence only waiting for the meeting to begin. Silently she tried to reach her seat without without getting too close to anyone. Almost soundless she settled down on her knees, her hands resting on her thighs and looking to the elders and clan-leader Kazobi Sofuto. Inari, her father and her mother sat almost in front of the elders and Sofuto, that meant that her family was high ranked in the clan. Only the family of the clan-leader sat before them, who were also part of her family, considering that Sofuto was her father's brother and thus her uncle, so his three sons and one daughter were all her cousins and his wife her aunt.

Many questions shot through the blue-heads mind and she wanted to hear answers soon. She was tempted to ask her her father next to her, but she knew better than to do that. She was only allowed to speak after the clan-leader or the elders let the meeting begin, only during a discussion or when someone ordered you to speak. Anyway, it would start soon enough, she just had to be patient, but time seemed to pass so slowly and the tension inside her grew with every second she had to wait.

And then, after years it seemed, Sofuto rose his voice, so everyone could listen to him:

"You certainly ask yourself, why there is a second meeting this week and why it was announced so unexpectedly."

He paused, letting his gaze wander through the room, checking if everyone paid attention as they should, before he went on:

"Today a falcon from the Uchiha arrived with a letter."

The room was suddenly filled with soft, but confused mumbling, some people looked at each other, as if they knew what this all meant. When the name "Uchiha" was spoken, the tension in the room rose immediately, they were one of the strongest, if not the strongest clan in the whole fire country, maybe even in the whole world. They always stayed far away from them fearing their power and wrath, never trying to cross their paths. Their territory was growing every day, coming dangerously close to their own, but they couldn't possibly be bothered by such an insignificant clan as their own yet, could they? Inari suspected nothing good, she only hoped that they hadn't pissed them off in any way possible, because that would mean her clan's eradication for sure. They were all healers, good healer, maybe the best, but surviving an attack of such a force like the Uchihas was impossible for them. With growing tension she waited for her uncle's next words.

"Because of an unnamed incident they had to suffer under many losses, they situation is getting worse because of an unknown disease, which also costs many lives. They demand six of our best Iryo-nins, who are going to help them for an unknown span of time. In return they will grant us their mercy and protection."

Some of the people seemed to be puzzled, others were outraged by their deal and others were just happy that they hadn't angered them yet. Soon the first loud voices were heard and the young woman heard several voices at the same time protest:

"Such arrogance!"

"Who do they think they are, just demanding our best ones?"

"We can't do this! In the end we are going to give away all of our people !"

"We should do as they say, or we'll perish!"

"What other choices do we have?!"

Other -Inari was one of them- stiffened and stayed quiet when they had heard the words "unknown span of time". They all knew what that meant, it was a polite and not so threatening way to say "you will never return to your people again" and it always ended with your death when you had fulfilled your purpose. What would the Kazobis do anyway, they would never attack another clan if it wasn't really necessary, they were far too weak and even if the would attack you in the most sneakiest way possible, the wouldn't survive the counter-attack. It hadn't always been this way, her father had been furious when it was announced that his brother would take the lead, not him, not because he wanted power, no, he knew his brother better than anybody else and so he had seen it coming, that his brother would be a submissive leader, a coward and far too easily scared. With his leadership, so her father had said, he had disgraced the name of the Kazobi and he wasn't the only one. Many thought of him as an unfitting leader, but they all had to admit, that under his leadership the numbers of conflicts and victims of war had decreased, while their wealth had increased. They lived longer, the children could be educated and trained more intensive, they weren't suffering any money losses and the number of children's' deaths was as low as never before. But still, giving away his own people like objects, even offering them was a horrible act and angered many of them.

"Silence! Should we not give them what they asked for, then we have to suffer the consequences. The elders and I have discussed this thoroughly..."

Inaris father tense visibly, he knew that he had already decided, he knew that he had already decided who he would give away like tool, like a present and it disgusted him. He really loved his brother dearly, but the way he dealt with his people was horrible and only gave him a reason to involuntary hate him, he wished he could just see over his decision and forgive him, but when he had sent away two of his daughters and his only son, he couldn't bring up the strength to hold his hatred towards his brother back and now, every time he had to witness how Sofuto chose to kill his people by giving them away, he wished that he would have never been born. But this time it was different and he knew it. Resisting against other clans who could be equal in strength was one thing, refusing a deal with an overpowered Clan who wouldn't hesitate to wipe them out of existence was another thing. They had no choice, because they knew that "consequences" was a more friendlier sounding word than "extinction". But still, although it should have eased the anger inside Inaris father, it did not. Sofuto never sent people away who were over twenty-five or married, he always chose the young adults and now he feared that his now only adult child, who could continue their family and give him a grandchild, would also be given away in a reckless manner.

"...and decided to accept their proposal."

The room was filled with voices one again. Too many at once, so loud, that Inari would get a headache. While many showed their anger and their indignation, she and her family just sat there in silence, not showing their frustration and anger they all held for Sofuto and the elders. Their faces were like stoic, cold mask, hiding their rage perfectly.

While staring, the young woman listened to the protests around her:

"You can't do that!"

"This is worse than losing our lives in a fight!"

"This is humiliating!"

"Without asking for our opinion?!"

"Didn't you say that the Uchihas were weak at the moment? Why don't we wait until they get extinct by another clan. We could do it ourselves!"

Tochio, an older man who sat right behind Inari, clicked his tongue:

"Fools, as if we had the slightest chance against an weak Uchiha,"

he murmured.

Inari turned his way and looked at him over her shoulder. Her face was filled with curiosity and confusion. He was one of the shinobis in her clan, who actually could fight in a battlefield and had survived so far. She also knew that he was a mastermind when it came to poisons and their antidotes. Inari had been his student for about a week, before he had finally dismissed her, saying, that she had an awful sense when it came to poisons.

But why had he just said such a thing, did he really think, that they were all so weak? An ill person was an ill person, unimportant, if it was an Uchiha or not, they sure had their limits. How could he even know, they had never fought against or with them, not in the time while she lived and her parents also never had mentioned the Uchiha before, so how would he know?

"Why are you so sure, that we would lose against them, even when they would be at the verge of death, Tochio-sama?"

His green eyes focused on her face, his gaze bore into her soul, so it felt, and suddenly, Inari thought she asked something entirely stupid, like 'why does one plus one equals two?'.

He answered in a low, yet powerful voice:

"You never saw them fight, so you should never say that you could overpower them in any fight. An Uchiha laying on the ground is still more than capable of killing you!"

She stared at him in a grumpy manner, before she turned away. She felt offended, did he really think so low of her, of their whole clan? That they couldn't deal with a fatally injured person laying on the ground? That was ridiculous and she thought that he maybe had breathed in a poison which destroyed his brain slowly, because that would explain what he just had said. She wasn't a real fighter like other shinobis from other clans, but even she was capable of killing a person on the ground. He could talk whatever he wanted, he surely would be proven wrong someday.

"Silence!"

the loud voice of her uncle cut through the protests and silenced them all.

"It is already decided, who will leave."

And for once, the whole room stayed quiet. Everyone shut their mouths, stared at him in fear, worried about themselves, about their family and loved ones. The blue-haired woman tensed, stared at one spot and concentrated on her leader's voice. She didn't want to see the faces of their elders, Sofuto or anyone else,because their gazes spoke the judgement even before their voices did. She had felt this kind of tension before, and she hated it. She had felt it, when her sisters had been chosen, when her brother was sent away, when one of her closest friends had been doomed and when her cousin, a daughter of her mother's sister, had been doomed this way. Every time she asked herself if she would be next, every time she almost went insane and every time she had to tell herself that there were more talented healers than her in this room in order to not burst out. She heard how the fabric of her mothers Kimono rustled as she gripped it tighter, fearing that her daughter could be one of those six.

"Those, who will go are Daisuke, Hamiro, Kazuka, Shinji, Genzo and Inari. There will be no further discussion. Those are our last words. You six will..."

She didn't even hear the last part anymore, couldn't listen to her uncle anymore. Everything she heard was her name, repeated like an echo in her mind, never ending. This could not be happening, it was impossible, wasn't it? There were much more suitable and more talented healers than her! Kamiko or Senshuro, they were at least as good as her, were they not? When did she pissed of her uncle? She had already presumed that she would be named, but she still was shocked, that this presumption now turned out to be reality. Of course, maybe she overdramatized everything, and maybe it wasn't so horrible after all, and there had been others who shared her fate, but still, she was petrified. She had seen, how devastated a father was when he saw his last son dying on the battlefield, and she had listened to the young women she met while buying herbs, who were married off to a stranger and had to leave their families, and after all, it wasn't clarified if they would be killed when the disease was cured, and her fear still could not be lessened. But maybe the Uchihas would not stick to the deal and murder the clan anyway. Then she would not just heal the murderer of her family, but the murderer of her whole Clan, how would she deal with that. What if she screwed up and then, because of her, the Uchiha would kill everyone ? She was practically thrown into the arms of her enemy, and not only she regarded it this way. Many of her people were disgusted by the way her uncle lead the clan, according to the motto: "Offer your family as a prensent".

A group consisting of mainly younger people, planned some kind of putsch against Sofuto. But what discouraged them was the fact, that the elders were totally fine with the way her uncle was leading the clan. And no one dared to overthrow the elders. There was a huge difference between going against your clan leader and going against your elders. The Kazobi-Clan was already disgraced, no need to overtop that.

Until now, Inari never agreed with that small group, killing her uncle, overthrow the elders? Her whole Soul, her spirit and her conscience had rebelled, scolded her for even thinking about it. She had trusted Sofuto, she had thought, he would let her and her remaining family be, how naïve she had been. But even when her mind told her that it was perfectly fine to just kill him now, her soul and her conscience still opposed. He was one of her own people, screw that, he still was her uncle, he was family, and the world could perish, she would never kill a family member and family was more important than her own fate.

Too bad, that it didn't lessen her fear a tiny bit. Her uncle had decided, probably spoke her death sentence. She still couldn't really believe it.

Slowly she came back to reality, was forced to leave her thoughts of anxiety in a corner of her mind as everybody else slowly stood up. Confused, she looked around, it seemed like she had missed the end of the meeting, she hadn't paid attention and now maybe missed important information, but she wouldn't dare to ask her parents what what happened while she had been deep in her thoughts. That would only prove them, that she had been distracted and that was the only reason she had participated in this meeting. To pay attention and accepting her fate, accepting the task of saving her people from the possible wrath of the Uchiha.

Not only Inari stood up slower than the others, no, also her cousin in front of her, Shinji, wasn't in a hurry to leave the room. Why? Oh, right, he was doomed with the same fate as she was, she somehow had forgotten, that she wasn't the only one, who had been named not even ten minutes ago. Wait a second, Shinji had been named, her cousin Shinji, Sofutos eldest son Shinji. Now that was a shocking surprise, because her uncle never had sent away his children, although they were all one of the best healers among them, he would rather send himself than his own children, he rather sent away her siblings than Shinji. And then, Inari understood how serious this situation was. He was so afraid of the possibility that the other healers could fail and doom them all, that he sent his own son, his eldest son, his best son away to prevent this future. And then, she remembered Tochios words

' An Uchiha laying on the ground is still more than capable of killing you!'

And it was now, even without ever experiencing the power, strength and might of an Uchiha on her own, she really understood, how powerless they had to be against them.

The way home was silent and without any conversations. The facial expression of her father was very stoic, but she immediately could distinguish this look and his normal look; it was the same expression he had when her brother and her sisters had been sent away. She could see his bitterness. Inari often asked herself if her siblings were still alive or already dead. She didn't know, two years had passed since her brother was gone and she had never heard of him or seen him again. Her hopes were shattered pretty early, but one small part of er mind told her, that maybe he and her sisters were still alive, that they found a partner and were now having a family, that she was an aunt without knowing it. She knew that this thought was more than ridiculous, but she didn't want to face reality yet. And what was so wrong about imagining it?

One the street, neither Inaris mother nor father showed any reaction to the message, that their last adult daughter had been been taken away from them, for that would be a sign of weakness and shinobis, regardless of what their status were, never showed emotions. And Inari didn't want them to have a mental breakdown in the middle of the street, that would just increase her pain and her fear. But when they picked up her little sister and returned to their home, only then, when nobody else could see or hear them, her mother embraced Inari in a desperate hug and began sobbing. Tears of sadness and sorrow ran down her cheeks and dampened Inaris shoulder. Inari herself wasn't able to cry, she just stared over her mothers shoulders at the wall behind her mother, and returned the desperate hug hesitantly. Her little sister, only four years old, watched the scenario before her young eyes, completely overstretched with the whole situation. She tried to understand, but couldn't. Why was her mother crying, why was Inari so absent-minded, why was her father looking so sad? What was happening? Suddenly, the small girl was also crying, because everyone was so sad, because she didn't know what else to do, because everything was wrong.

Her mother released Inari, wiped of her own tears and hurried to her other daughter, whose sobs filled the room and tried to soothe her with a hug and softly whispered words. While her mother was preoccupied with her little sister, her father approached her. Inari was still looking at the same spot, deep in thoughts. Her father could only get her attention through touching her shoulder lightly. She looked at him, her look said everything, she was afraid, uncertain and somehow incapable of fully understanding the situation.

"I'm sorry, Inari. I really am, when my brother was forced to give up his own son, then he won't change his mind about the others."

The blue-haired, young woman took a deep breath, before she answered with a shaking voice:

"I understand, Oto-san. You don't have to apologize, you cannot be blamed. I can only be thankful to you."

"What's the matter, nee-chan?"

The reddend and wet eyes of her younger sister fixated her green ones with an horrified look.

"What has happened?"

Inari forced herself to smile, she hoped, that it would suffice to decieve her younger sister. She approached her, bent over, so she was on the same height as her and whispered:

"I am going to go on a journey."

"Why is Okaa-chan crying then?"

"Because she is concerned, like always. But she doesn't have to. I am going to be fine."

Who was she really talking to, to her little sister, to her parents or was she talking to herself?

"I can come with you and protect you!"

Inari ruffled through her little sisters hair. A dry laugh errupted from her throat:

"Then, who would watch after Oto-san and Okaa-chan? I'll watch my back, I am a big girl already, you know."

"I don't want you to go."

"Neither do I."

"Then stay!"

"But I have to go."

Her sister looked at her in confusion. Silence filled the room, before Himeko asked in a low voice:

"Will you return?"

"I'll try."

"You will come back, that's an order."

Once again, Inari laughed, although she didn't want to, but she had just realized, how imperious Himeko was.

"Understood."


	2. Chapter 2

**And hello again, my dear readers :)**

**What I forgot to mention, this is not a story, where the main character meets Madara or Izuna ****immediately. **

**Don't worry though, one of them will defin definitivelyshow up in the next chapter and interact with my poor, little main character. I woll not reveal the pairing yet, but I think it should be obvious in the next chapter  
**

**As always, enjoy this chapter and tell me what you liked, disliked and where I got grammar/ Spelling mistakes.**

In the thicket of the forest, four foreign silhouettes jumped from tree to tree soundlessly. Even when their Chakra was in perfect control, so the signature could adapt perfectly to their environment and so undetectable for others, their aura could not be hidden. Even an ignorant fool would have been able to feel it, like a presentiment, the feeling of being watched by a wild animal, hunting it's prey and you could not say when, where and if it would attack you.

But taking lives away was not their mission today, not in the first line. They crossed unknown areas, not just because Madara had ordered it, but also because of their own will to save their clansmen. In the last week they had been as weak as never before. The victims, which took their last breaths on the battlefield for the sake of their beloved clan and now the illness which stole the lives of their remaining Shinobis, wives and even children and which could not be cured by their own healers weakened the power of the clan enormously. If the Senjus found out about their crisis, they wouldn't hesitate to extinguish them completely.

But two days ago, one of the guardsmen received a falcon with a hope-bringing answer, Normally, Madara and the elders wouldn't have demanded help from such a weak Clan, after all, the Uchihas were strong and mighty and didn't need a temporary alliance with such an excuse of a Clan. They were no threat at all and their power wouldn't have been such a big asset, but now, the situation had changed. Madara was losing the lives of his people and he would rather forget his pride then sitting there and doing nothing at all, and so he had forced, not begged them to help. None of his men had a problem with putting the Clan under pressure, either the Kazobi or the Uchiha, the decision had not been too hard to make.

Four strong Shinobi were chosen, immediately after the message had been received, to meet those who would come to their aid at the Jiyu-fountain in four days. But even after hearing the gratifying message, Madara had been very careful and wary, after all, the Kazobi were talented in setting traps and attacking someone from behind, and four days was enough time to prepare an assassination. That's why he chose a sensor-ninja, two highly capable warriors from the higher ranks and Kosumo, an expert with poisons to escort those medics, even if they were all highly over-skilled for this mission. These medics were needed here, without them, his people would all die slowly and Madara was sure, this would not happen under his leadership.

Inari was nervous, tensed and really scared. She would never see her family again, she would never teach Himeko Raiton: Josaido*, which she had wanted to learn so eagerly, she would never wander this forest again, she would never again be able to let her thoughts flow freely at the Jiyu-fountain, maybe she wouldn't live long enough to witness this year's winter. But she didn't cry, she couldn't and didn't want to. Her brother didn't cried, her sisters hadn't lost a single tear when they walked through the small village for the last time in their lives and she certainly wouldn't disgrace their bravery by doing it now. Yet she couldn't hide her empty stare, no spirit could be seen, it was impossible now to see her soul through her green eyes. Everyone could sense the lie behind her smile, a smile for her family, to show them that she was fine and not scared. How she wished that this fake smile could convince his father, let her mother forget all her sorrow, but she knew better. Not even an idiot could be fooled by her expression.

She had four days to accept her fate, to curse her uncle and the gods, to accuse them and making them responsible for her misery. And here she was now, with her cousin and four friends of her, only carrying the bare essentials for her task and she still felt like she'd carried mountains. One more time her mind told her to turn back, to run away, to flee, to do everything, just not going to the Jiyu-fountain now. But there were two reason why she would not do it, the first one was, that they would catch her anyway and then possibly kill her for her insubordination and the other reason was the fact that she would not just bring shame upon her remaining family, but she would endanger them all with drawing the wrath of the Uchiha upon them and she would rather sacrifice herself than letting that happen.

They were almost at their meeting-point, but none of them had even sensed one chakra-signature. They exchanged questioning looks and the three Shinobis, who were assigned to escort the six healers to the Meeting-point to assure they wouldn't go somewhere else checked their surroundings twice, as if they were expecting an ambush. Inari also focused her attention on her surroundings and her footsteps, so that she could be as soundless as possible when jumping from branch to branch. One of the three Shinobis slowed down his pace, fell back and soon he was at the end of the group, instead of staying next to the blue-haired kunoichi and her companion, so he could return to the village and report, should anything happen. Inari felt more vulnerable, her right flank was unsecured and she was as good as unarmed. The feeling of uneasiness filled her stomach, she felt discomfort crawl into her limbs and with it the fear and panic she had tried to ignore the past few days. Now, only minutes before looking into the face of her doom embodied by an Uchiha, it was almost impossible for her to withstand the thought of abandoning the mission and run for her life. She had been aware of her situation the whole time, but only now she really felt like she should in such a situation. No words without any meaning, no illusions, the big change in her life would happen now, and it would be terrible, dangerous and frightening. Her limbs felt heavier and heavier, her feet didn't want to jump anymore, not in this direction, not to them.

"Inari, you are falling back, go faster!"

Her head snapped into the direction where the voice came from. The shinobi behind her pierced her with an cold look, watching her, analysing her every move, prepared for a try to run away. She lowered her head, the look was too uncomfortable for her, confronting her even more with the reality she had to expect and shattering all of her hopes of getting away. He wouldn't let her escape, none of them would.

"Yes, understood."

She forced her legs to jump with more strength and she quickly gained speed. Her eyes fell on her companions, who shared the same fate as she. Their faces mirrored her feelings: despair, hopelessness and resignation. But it seemed as Daisuke and Hamiro were talking to each other, they were looking at each other and their lips were moving. What were they talking about? When did they start? She hadn't realized someone was speaking. Her panic and her fear had been the reason why she had lost her focus and her caution so easily, how pathetic. But now she listened to Hamiros and Daisuke conversation, maybe she could be distracted, as long as they were not talking about how frightened they were

"...-thing happened?"

Daisuke murmured those words, trying as quiet as possible.

"I hope so, then our situation wouldn't be so hopeless anymore.!"

Hamiro answered, Inari detected a tiny hint of enthusiasm in the way he spoke.

"Idiot!"

Daisuke responded a bit louder than before, so that now Kazuka turned her head in their direction and the escort shinobis looked at them with an admonishing glance. He continued in a lower voice:

"Imagine what would happen, if they would not return home. They would suspect that we were involved in their disappearance and I am quite sure THAT would end in our deaths."

"But I can't feel any Chakra beside ours, not even a tiny bit and I am the best sensor-ninja in the village."

"Now you're arrogant as hell!"

Well, it was kind of true, Hamiros parents had been both blessed with extremely chakra-sensitive cells, which gave them an impressive ability to detect any chakra-sginatures. Luckily, Hamiro had inherited this anomaly.

The only other girl in the group also participated in the conversation, and so she suggested:

"My father warned me that the abilities of the Uchihas are on a whole other level. Then hiding themselves completely should be easy for them, even if it's you, who is searching them."

"When they are super strong and perfect, why would they need our help then? Doesn't look like they are that strong after all."

Hamiros voice sounded angry, but everybody could hear his despair, the reply had been a frantic and also stupid try to search for an excuse or a reason for not being handed over like a lifeless object.

"Maybe, just maybe you shouldn't say that in their presence."

"Silence! We almost reached the meeting-point."

hissed on of the shinobis in the front.

"Oi, I can feel three chakra-signatures near the fountain. Very well hidden if you'd ask me."

Inari concentrated, but couldn't feel the tiniest bit of a human chakra-signature, when she inspected the other five, they all -but Hamiro – had a short expression of confusion on ther faces, before Kazuka spoke:

"I can't feel anything."

"Yeah, because you're not as good as I am."

"Hamiro, do us a favour and shut your mouth."

Strange. Now, only seconds before the hand over, she felt calm, instead of panicking or being numbed by fear, somehow, she felt relieved, maybe because of that short moment of normality, as if they were just patrolling. Now she really realized, that she would not be alone, that there were five clan-members with her, and with whom she had trained with since she could walk . She was not alone, they would not let each other fall, not in such a situation. She smiled, even more relieved.

Hikaku felt nine chakra-signatures, which failed miserably in their attempt to hide themselves, but honestly, he hadn't expected much more from such a weak clan. They would reach that fountain earlier than his team would, who should be there in a minute or less. He wanted to finish this mission as fast as possible: escort the medics to the Uchiha-compound as fast as possible, so they could heal the infected and eliminate the unknown disease. Of course, no one would trust them blindly, neither he, nor anyone else back at home, and nobody would try to give them the feeling that they were needed urgently, they could -after all- be hostile and wouldn't let one chance slip to weaken the Uchiha. They could not show such weakness or let themselves be so vulnerable. And he was far too intelligent to make a mistake and underestimate the other group of ninjas, even if they weren't nearly as strong as the Uchiha. He had informed himself, this clan was not only famous for their healing ability, but also for their talent in setting traps and planning ambushes. The Kazobis were intelligent and sneaky, and they would let six of them enter the heart of the Uchiha-Clan, now, when they were vulnerable, and near Hikaku's family. This thought was unsettling and just another reason why they should be very cautious with them. Normally, he would've protested against such a decision, but in this moment, his wife was at home, suffering from this unknown disease, no, pest and could die in any moment now. He would do anything that he could do to save his wife, to spare her from death, even condone these strangers, if they would help.

He and his three team-mates were almost at their destination, and although there was no trap they could run into, an ambush they could trigger or getting killed by anything those ninjas could come up with, he stayed cautious. He left one of them hidden between the leafs of the trees and shadows, so he had their backs covered. Hikaku had already presumed that they wouldn't just send the six medics on their own. They could -after all- try to flee or do something very stupid, and they were probably sent to prevent them from running away and overlook the delivery. So he had not been surprised when he had sensed more than six chakra signatures. That did not mean these superfluous ninjas could be a threat, they could still try to kill them and thus he wouldn't let his guard down and stayed suspicious. He revealed himself first, but was quickly followed by Hirou, who covered his right side and Shoheki, who had his left side secured, Masuku waited, as planned, between the shadows, covering his back.

He inspected the persons, who stood about sixty feet away from him, only separated through a small river flowing out of a rim between two stones and splashing in a calming way, cutting through the silence like a sword. Eight out of nine showed themselves on the clearing, which was covered with gravel and stones, the ninth tried to hide himself between the bushes, his chakra only faintly noticeable. The sun had almost set completely, sending it's last sun-rays onto the forest canopy and the clearing, colouring it in gold and red, before finally disappearing to let the night come. The leaf rustled in the wind, which blew everyone softly through their hair and creating a faint whistling noise, barely able to hear. This place had something soothing, the tension, which laid on the place like a dark and heavy blanket, was eased and carried it away slowly. But it took more than a harmonic place like this one to take away Hikaku's caution and distrust, it could not take away the tension in his muscles or tempt him to let his guard down. But he couldn't deny the peacefulness, which surrounded him, he couldn't deny the soothing feeling that this place radiated. If he had no mission to fulfil, if he had not been in an enemy's territory, if he had been in own woods, he would have returned one day and he would have engaged in this peaceful feeling, but now, he had to ignore it.

Inari stared at those three men in front of her with an icy stare, she would not allow to let her last barrier crumble, which was the only thing now that hid her troubled self and her growing feelings of fear and panic. If she'd let her façade crumble, she would bring shame upon her people, no, on every shinobi alive, because a shinobi is not allowed to show any emotion at any point in a battle, and certainly not fear or panic. She still remembered two of the most important rules of a shinobi, no matter if it was a normal fighter, a healer or a sensor: a shinobi never shows his tears to an enemy and is never allowed to show any weakness. If it wasn't for her training and her effort to withhold her emotions, she would have trembled, screamed, cried, and probably tried to run away. But she had to be strong, for the others, who had also endured her destiny and were sharing hers right now at this moment, for her family, for her brother and her sisters, for her clan and for those, who had to suffer from a more severe fate.

Now was the time, in this moment she had to confront her fate, represented through those three ninjas standing across the river, now was the time to completely surrender, without a fight. She wasn't sure who of them was in charge, everyone of them looked like someone who gave orders and was capable of analysing a situation in mere seconds. But her unspoken question was answered when the ninja in the middle stepped tow steps towards them. He had brown hair, held back by an ponytail, his torso was covered by a purple shirt with a high collar and three chains attached on the right shoulder and he was wearing black pants with sandals.

His deep voice cut through the air like a sword:

"Hand over the six healers."

not a request, but an order, and he didn't sound like he would repeat himself. Without waiting for permission from her own people, she slowly began walking toward the strangers, she did not dare to deny the authority of this ninja, she somehow had the impression that this man could and would probably eradicate her whole village all by himself, if she did not obey. The crunching of gravel told her that her comrades were also moving, going to their enemies, completely defenceless. With every step the urge to run away grew, the need to turn around, to struggle, the way suddenly seemed to be longer than before, stretching the moments, where the thought of fleeing seemed possible. Suddenly, the sound of the grovel, the air whistling in her ears and the lapping of the water drove her crazy, taking a heavy toll on her nerves, her thoughts began racing and she already formed a plan for escape. She reached the shore, there, only a couple of feet away was her destination. Everything seemed to slow down, and she concentrated to not make a rushed movement, because if she did, she'd probably be dead before she could count to three.

The river was almost completely crossed, when her feet started to feel heavy, she started to slow down. She had been the first one to approach them and the others didn't want to pass her on their way, so she knew that she did slow down when Shinji was suddenly walking next to her, at a faster pace than her.

"Don't slow down, Inari."

Out of the corner of her eye she looked at her cousin, but didn't dare to move her head towards him. The Uchiha-man, who had spoken earlier narrowed his eyes, as if he was expecting them to do something in the next moments. But he didn't do anything, nor did he say anything, he just looked at them like an eagle watching it's prey from high above the sky.

They had reached the Uchiha. Everything inside her felt numb, her fear threatened to break her masc of calmness, hiding her emotions, if the men hadn't already seen through it. When everyone else reached them, the man, who Inari assumed was the leader of the group, spoke again:

"The Uchiha will keep their word."

That was all what their clansmen needed to hear before they left, abandoning them, leaving them alone, probably returning to the village to report to the leader.

"Hirou, Shoheki, tie up their hands!"

The other two men, who had remained silent through the whole time, were now walking towards them and took ropes out of their pockets. Inari just hold up her hands, without any struggling, what was the point to do it now anyway? She was nothing compared to them, she didn't even want to prove it, it was one of those things you knew by instinct. But Hamiro apparently lacked this instinct, because he stepped away from them, taking a defensive position and saying:

"Oi, You'll never tie my hands up, forgetit!"

Everyone could hear his desperation and fear, but no one tried to sooth him. Daisuke, whose hands were already tied up, just spoke tonelessly:

"Hamiro, just let them tie up your hands, do not make a scene out of this."

He ignored the words and stepped one more step away.

The leader of the Uchiha-group didn't hesitate and when he opened his eyes, they weren't black anymore, but a brilliant crimson red, with three dots spinning around his pupil. Hamiro's protest died away immediately, trapped in those blood-red eyes. As if he was in trance, he let his hands be tied up and didn't fight against it, like a trained animal. The man had used a Gen-Jutsu on Hamiro, without even using hand signs.

These eyes were strong, powerful and their owner was even more powerful. The Uchiha's strongest weapon, their whole pride, the sharingan. She hadn't heard much about it, but she didn't need to hear much about it to know that these eyes were able to overpower with just one glance. The proof was standing right there, Hamiro had a peaceful look on his face, as if nothing had ever happened.

Everyone was tied up, Hamiro still behaving good like a little puppy. The men turned around and the leader said, without even looking at them:

"Follow us!"

And then he jumped into the darkness, and the six followed them without a second thought. And Inari was sure, the rest of her life would be like hell.

*Raiton: Josaido means Lightning release: Defibrillation


End file.
